Fantastic custom diorama of the Pea Ridge battlefield!

Cannonball reader Stephen Schultheis sent me some photos of his fantastic diorama of the Civil War battle of Pea Ridge, fought March 6-8 in northwestern Arkansas. The Union victory essentially allowed the Federal armies to recapture and hold the region for the rest of the War Between the States.

Here are some more photos, plus commentary from Stephen!

“Name is Stephen, born and raised and still living in a border state. I have been tied to the Civil War since before 5 years of age. Grew up learning more about the Eastern Theater, but being so far away from where I lived, the Western and Trans-Mississippi battles grew to take more of my interests of the war. I have visited many battlefields and always have a hard time pulling myself away from any display that resembles a diorama.

This being my first EVER diorama. It is one section of the battle of Pea Ridge in Northwest Arkansas, March 7th and 8th 1862. Precisely, my replica of the battle that formed to the north of the small town called Leetown. In the woods called, Morgans Woods and the Leetown road on March 7th. The diorama is 4 ft.by 4 ft. and it took me approximately 9 months to almost finish. I am still missing some important items such as battle smoke and a little snow on the ground and finish with some trim around it too.

We have been in the process of moving and I want to add those last items when we are situated in our new place. I learned a lot as I took my time with a visit to Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern National Battlefield. Took photos and read the book Pea Ridge civil war campaign in the west by authors William L. Shea & Earl Hess. It was a nice read but most if not all records of the Confederate side were destroyed at some junction during or after the battle. Limited information from that one side.

I am the type of person who craves realism in anything regarding this war. So, as I thought of my layout, I studied a lot about the lay of the land. This part of the country at that time was not very well populated and was poor. I had contact with 2 people who worked at the battlefield, they were Troy and Greg. They were always helpful in getting me ANY type of information. Without there insight to the history, my diorama would not feel as realistic.

I also used a few photos of the paintings of Andy Thomas to help in understanding how my layout would be. Mr. Thomas has done many fine works that involved Trans-Mississippi battles. And I used the Internet to help fill in other holes where I lacked information.

I prefer a variety of figures, that are 15mm. The ones used are Frontier, Minifigs, Peter Pig, Essex, Freikorp15 and some SM. It is hard to see many of the soldiers in the woods but according to war records, the sides had a hard time seeing each other in the woods due to it being thick with trees, underbrush and smoke.

Look forward to my next Civil War diorama.”

So are we, Stephen, so are we! Feel free to send me photos of your next effort, and I will be happy to post them here on the Charge! Civil War miniature wargaming and diorama blog.

Really well done ! If I might offer one suggestion….remove the bases from the figures. Drill a hole in the heel and insert a small brass rod. You can use that to temp mount the figure while painting, and then use it to mount the figure to the diorama groundwork. The visible figure bases detract from otherwise nice realism in the scene. Joe

An alternative if the figures are meant to be permanent in the diorama is to build up the ground to be ‘even’ with the bases so they don’t show – use something as simple as ready mixed spackling compound but mix a little color into so if it ever chips the white doesn’t show.

Truly impressive wargame scenarios. XLNT use of natural material and well-crafted fields. Height of trees is as practical for wargame opns as it is for improved reality. These dioramas invite visitors into the game.